My Home and The Beach

Since I have been talking about decorating your house "Beach Style" and have been inspired by all the blogs that I have been reading, I thought that I would quick just show you some of my inspirations that I have added to my home over the years.

These are shelves that I made out of 1x6's and wooden shelf brackets. It was very easy to do, just paint and hang!! I put some of my favorite family photos on them (especially ones of my kids at our cottage) as well as shells and beach signs. I was really happy with the way that these turned out! And, they were CHEAP!!

My SEA letters I covered in glue and rolled them in sand and let dry.

This is my bathroom, which is very very small, but the space above the toilet is wide open so I decided to put a simple shelf to hang beautiful aqua towels. On that shelf I usually rearrange things around but for now I have a sailboat and a starfish that was given to me as a gift. The best thing about that picture is the driftwood! I fished this piece out of Glen Lake, located in Northern Michigan, which is my favorite place in the world! So not only does the driftwood serve a purpose, but it reminds me of a special place that holds special memories. I took three glass drawer pulls and screwed them in and hung it above the toilet. I love the color and texture that it adds to the room and it gives it that "beachy" feel!

In my bedroom we transformed the walls into faux panelling. I saw this idea at a Parade of Homes a couple years ago and fell in love! It was easier than the wainscoting and a little less expensive. We used 1x4's, or whatever size that you want, and spaced them about 2 feet apart around the room and trimmed them so they would only go up a little over half way. We then topped them off with the same size boards. The floor moldings are 1x6's, which seemed to give the room a little more character. I decided to paint everything white below the molding and a sea blue above it. My bedroom is my favorite place in the house.

Here is my calm and "beachy" bedroom

Below is another example with different colors for the molding and the wall.

A great and inexpensive way to spruce up your walls!